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Aoitsuki and Tsiro pursue a lead in the investigation of Maikeru's assassination.

"Defiant To The End"

Land of Fire Border

Since the information had finally been given on Maikeru's death, many things had been set
into motion to figure out exactly how and why this happened. Black market leads have been
checked through many vines to find out that a mercenary had been hired to help the leader of
the group behind the scenes and to act as her bodyguard. Some would have to be convinced
with cash, others with force and intimidation, but the trail would eventually lead to a man
named Wu Youkio. The man himself had caught wind that someone would be coming to look for
him and went on the run himself. While not exactly on any terms to negotiate with anyone in
the Land of Lightning, he is running that way to try to catch a ship that would go around
the Land of Water to head to the Land of the Moon. If he can make it that far, he can likely
get out of this predicament. If not… well, all mercenaries eventually die by the way they
live.

Word about Maikeru's death was absolutely surprising, how did such a powerful man literally
fall from the face of the earth unnoticed? There were lots of question and answers, Aoi
actually though it had something to do with those creatures he had came back with, however
it turned out that he was literally assassinated in cold blood. They came upon a lead that a
man by the name of Wu Youkio had been at least somewhat responsible for this successful
assassination.

After a few strong leads were acquired a duo of shinobi were organized to track and
pull as much information as necessary from the individual, Kaguya Tsiro was the head tracker
of the mission while Aoitsuki acted as more of a support roll, overlooking the situation and
offering her own services when needed. The area about them became pelted with a heavy storm
of snow, conjured by Aoitsuki herself as they swept through the trees with hopefully enough
speed to catch up with their suspect. " Do you have any leads, Tsiro-kun? Unfortunately I
don't feel his presence just yet…" Aoitsuki explained though nevertheless continued forth,
she needed to keep herself focused as well…

The young Kaguya had been moving at a fairly decent speed through the trees. He
began moving faster as the snow started. "Something has been moving through these trees with
pretty good speed." Tsiro then pointed towards the ground. There were pieces of bark that
had been broken off by someone passing through. "I cannot guarantee it is our man, but
whomever it is, is either very efficient or on the run from something. Your snow might be
counter productive. It will make tracking slightly less dependable." It was true. Now all
the lead had to do was knock snow off of a lot of branches and his chances of survival would
potentially go up.
As for Maikeru, the last time Tsiro had seen him was at his birthday party. It was
kind of intense to think someone had taken the man out. As Tsiro moved his thoughts replayed
different times he had seen the man. Though the two were not that close, his sensei was very
good friends with him. This mattered even more to him because of that.

Being the one racing for his own life is a rather funny feeling to Youkio. He's
almost always on the other end of the stick. This must be how some of his targets feel,
though most of them are nowhere near as prepared for combat as he. Still, he can't expect to
do too well if Kiri has sent their Hunters, considering they tend to be some of their best,
thus he is fleeing as quickly as possible. His keen wolf-like senses let him know that he is
being followed. With the brewing snowstorm, he figures he has even less time to get away if
he's going to do so, so he picks up his pace, beginning to focus ki throgh his body to begin
a transformation. His body starts to get larger, white fur beginning to sprout all over him
as he preps to run faster, as well as for if this turns into a battle.

"While it may seem counter productive if he is within my snow I should be able to
determine that he is at least within range of us…But for now I'm not able to detect his
presence, at least if he is in this area. I will need to focus a little bit more, do try to
make the best of the snow," Aoitsuki requested and informed Tsiro, not necessarily wanting
to ruin his ability to hunt, but she did need a way of applying herself into the situation
as well. " If what you say is right we might at least have some sort of other lead… We
need to keep moving so I will follow closely behind you and tell you if anything comes up,"
Aoitsuki stated, she was truly depending on Tsiro's expertise to track him down.

Tsiro continued on as far as he could watching the snow start to gather on the
branches as he moved. Finally the boy lost track of the prints. The snow was covering them
up. With a snarl the young Jounin glanced over his shoulders. "I have lost the trail. We
need to keep moving this way and hope the target does not double back or we will lose him
for certain." Tsiro states. He starts to build his chakra preparing for a battle to come.
Worse case scenario, his target escapes.

Once the transformation is complete, Youkio resembles nothing short of a giant
white werewolf. With this speed, he is able to keep ahead of the thick of the snowstorm and
throws some rocks that he picked up along the way at trees to knock snow off and attempt to
confuse those on his trail. Attempting to stay ahead, he runs with all his might toward the
docks. They are still a bit away, but just maybe he can make it there before anyone catches
up to him. The extra power added by his transformation helps a great deal, and he can only
hope it is his good luck charm this day.

Tsiro was getting irritated, she could sense it after the odd snarl he had given
her, she did cover up portions of the trail but it wasn't without purpose. As they continued
to move amongst the trees, wind whipping about and weaving throughout Aoi's snow white locks
she began to pick up on yet another lead, a blimp within her storm of snow prompting her to
point forward. " I don't know exactly where this man is, but I can feel a large source of
chakra build up ahead, and we aren't too far off either… The trail isn't completely lost
just yet," Aoi commented, allowing though not before the howling winds about began to pick
up like a turtling blizzard. Aoitsuki began to take more chakra from the bandaged blade by
her back, her flesh became fairly pale in the same process. Judging by the ammount of chakra
she felt focus, she had no choice but to make sure she was fully prepared for this mission.
They already had enough setbacks.

As Tsiro moved, the agitation caused by the snow only caused him to work that much
harder. His eyes scanned the area as he moved, even further up ahead. Luckily he had seen
the rock fly through the air. "There." he stated as he pointed in the air directly towards
the were-wolf. Bones started to protrude from Tsiro as he prepared to intercept him. His
eyes glanced towards Aoi for a moment. She now had a new blade. He pondered just how this
was going to effect their team work. While he hated playing the support role, he had a good
feeling that was exactly where he was at the moment.

Hearing the exclamation as he is spotted, Youkio grumbles a bit and clunches his
fists. He ponders a strategy as he begins to focus ki through his body. With this storm and
the Hunter now on his trail, getting back out of sight really isn't very likely. So, he
prepares for what seems to be an inevitable battle, his body beginning to surge with
volatile energy as he gets ready to fight for his life.

The spike in Youkio's chakra proved that he was no friend of the village. With him
quickly getting on the defensive it only helped to prove that this was the person they had
been sent to track and get information from. "Wu Yukio… You are definitely more burly than
I anticipated. You are going to tell us everything you know in reference to Daeshiro
Maikeru's death. You won't be coming in quietly," Aoitsuki exclaims, though keeping herself
back away, allowing herself to focus on the whirling winds about them. "Tsiro-kun… He is
focusing his chakra and I assume he won't be willing to come in quietly." She hinted at what
Tsiro should do next… Hunt the beast and bring him down. Aoitsuki was the one playing
support today.

So much for team work. Oh well, it was not the first time a good looking girl
washed her hands of a brawl in order to have a beastly Kaguya do battle for her. Well at
least in his case. Tsiro nods his head and charges in towards Youkio. As he gets towards the
beast, he spins around in an attempt to stab him with the bones from his elbows. While it
was not good policy to fight a beast fist user up close, Tsiro really wanted to test his
ability.

Hearing the woman calling out to him, Youkio's beast-like face shows a smirk as he
looks back at her. He seems to be paying attention to her until he leaps over Tsiro to avoid
his strikes. A blur of ki flares up and is left in his wake as he kicks off a high tree
branch to attempt to come down on the boy's head with a direct kick in hope to send him
spiraling to the ground below. "I'm just full of surprises," a severely deepend, yet still
somehow sarcastic voice rings out from the werewolf as he lands in stance on a branch.

The exchange of blows became quick between the beast and the Hunter, they both
appeared to be incredibly quick with their taijutsu, something that even Aoitsuki was
slightly envious about. Rather than jumping into the action Aoitsuki continued to analyze
the situation from afar, Tsiro was definitely capable of testing out his abilities and she
figured he would enjoy such an occasion anyways. Aoitsuki instead began to focus a bit more
chakra throughout her body, preparing herself for a jutsu of her own, Tsiro could have his
fun but she didn't want to waste too much time either…She just need to judge his fighting
style a little while longer…

The beast was fast and Tsiro found himself on the recieving end of a blow. Luckily
he was able to twist enough that the bones extending from his back were able to block it.
This guy was slightly above his league. The boy lands on a branch and takes a moment to
recover. Then without notice he leaps back into the air spinning around attempting to twist
into him.

With the pace picking up, the Kaguya boy manages to land his vicious attack upon
the werewolf before he can move out of the way completely. Blades of bone, slice through his
side, creating deep gashes as he falls, grabbing a branch to spin himself back up into a
leap. Pushing a large amount of ki into his legs, he spins to a powerful upward thrustkick
directly at Tsiro's chin. Were the boy not a Kaguya, this would likely threaten to behead
him as it has others.

The battle was dragging out, however Tsiro did manage to get the first blow, and
while she wasn't entirely surprised she was attempting to see if this man truly had what it
took to kill Maikeru, this man could have very well been one of the culprits. Watching his
fighting style was only going to help them evaluate their search and get to the bottom of
things… She was sure Tsiro could understand her position on that. For now she had the
perfect view of the fight, but her curiosity was begining to wear away.

A shield formed of bone knocks the kick off of its course. Tsiro then drops down a
branch. Though Tsiro was winning at the moment, he could feel the power behind his moves.
The hand of the boy moves to his back and grasps the base of his spine. "You want to act
like a beast? Time to meet the beast tamer." Tsiro states as the sick sounding pull of his
spine comes. With the spine now in his hand the boy then moves forward attempting to spin
once more towards Youkio. He was trying to take advantage of the focus on the spine to get
in one or two more cuts before using the whip like spine on him.

Whatever the reason, Youkio is certainly glad to not be being double-teamed just
yet. This at least gives him the opportunity to land a solid blow and attempt to get away.
As his kick is deflected, he spins to land on a branch and looks down at the boy, smirking
slightly. "We'll see about that, kid." He takes a sidestep, though not in time to get away
out of the first incoming strike. After ducking away from the second, he leaps up with a
knee thrust directly at Tsiro's chin, intending to momentarily stun him to follow up with a
powerful, ki-fueled punch directly at his face.

The battle appeared to become more wearing as it continued on, and though Tsiro did
appear to have the upper hand she could tell that he was exerting a whole lot more strength
than before which would eventually tire him out if pressed too much… it was then she
decided to step in with her own defenses, the bellowing wind which wrapped about the area
began to focus like a barrier around Tsiro's body. Youkio would simply find the barrier too
strong to break through and eventually push him back. " I think we have guaged your
abilities enough… You need to start answering questions, because you won't escape from
here alive… What was your part and who else was involved in the death of Maikeru?!"

Aoitsuki cried out in a question, forcefully attempting to beat the question out of
him. The wind intantly began to pick up as she reached for the blade at her back side, and
her body appeared to flicker within a single movement. With her natural speed she was right
above him, attempting to slam down a baton of wind upon him with the aid of her heavy
bandaged blade, even after the strike the winds wraping around her would attempt to rip and
slice into his body… This needed to end quickly.

Tsiro was not finished yet. As he moved to dodge the attacks Aoi stepped in. "I
almost had him Aoi." the boy growls. He moves the whip back and strikes attempting to wrap
the wolf in it and bind him. He was hoping that would be the final straw in order to make
this guy talk. Then again he was also hoping he did not go over board and hurt the guy
fatally. His eyes then glance towards Aoi. She seemed to want to interrogate him on the
spot.

As the wind barrier stops his strikes from making contact with the boy, Youkio
lifts an eyebrow and is pushed back to land on his feet on a branch once again. It would
seem the time for the fight to be one-on-one has ended. He watches calculatively as both
attack in different ways, using Tsiro's own tactic against him as he moves in a blur of
white ki to spin over the boy and plant a foot on the back of his head in an attempt to kick
him straight into Aoitsuki's attacks and down toward the forest floor. "Maikeru, Maikeru,"
he says sarcastically. "Doesn't ring a bell. Maybe you should check the next town over.
Maybe one of their werewolves has heard something."

Irritating, absolutely irritating. Youkio's battle prowess began to kick up as he
increased the level of his speed, she could only watch as in a blink of an eye her attacks
were easily evaded, and he even pushed that speed a step forward to counter Tsiro's attack.

Aoitsuki slammed into the ground with the weight of her blade, shifting her stance and
placing it back into' the patch along her back, "Are you okay? Tsiro-kun?" she asked him,
noticeably he appeared to be in decent shape, nothing she couldn't fix later if he allowed
her to. For now she began to focus on the blizzard of snow swelling in from above, each
flake which danced about Youkio began to explode like a web, even the snow beneath his feet
attempted to entrap him and bury him into the blizzard, it was very difficult to dodge but
certainly not impossible, as long as Aoi held her focus… " Don't mock me assassin…"
Aoitsuki cursed back, hopefully if he was caught they could further subdue him, perhaps
painfully.

Tsiro was knocked down towards the forest floor. That hurt, but the boy was by no
means out of it. "I'm fine." he states towards Aoi as he launches back upwards towards
Youkio. Once more he aims the spine at the beast. He wanted to ensure this guy did not get
away. "He is no assassin. They normally do not continue on this long in close range combat."

As the blizzard comes his way, Youkio easily leaps out of the way of it. However,
this motion doesn't allow him quite enough room to get away from Tsiro's incoming re-attempt
at his last attack. A growl of pain escapes the werewolf's lips as the vine of pine wraps
around and stabs into him, causing him to fall down to the forest floor. Blood seaps out
from his wounds as he lays there, attempting to struggle out of the binding, but it's rather
hard to get out of something that cuts deeper the more you struggle. "Assassin?" he asks.
"I'm just a simple mercenary."

"Tell me what happened then "Mercenary" because you are a terrible lier…" Aoi shot
back right at him, his speed was remarkable but Tsiro's speed was also something to behold.
The vine began to hold him in place making it easier for Aoi to produce her next attack,
hovering a fog of ice crystals over him until they were lowered onto his body, the small
crystals eventually melding into his flesh if he couldn't break out of the vines. " You are
going to tell us what you know about the situation… We will drag your limp body to
Kirigakure if we have to," Aoitsuki finished, if the snow melded into his body it eventually
attempted to tear into shards, peels and cutting into his flesh with the hundreds of
microscopic ice crystals. IT was going to be a slow and painful process. " Thanks for the
good work, Tsiro-kun…You are definitely much quicker than I remember,"

Tsiro finally had a chance at catching his own breath. Though this guy was good at
what he did, it appears the tables have turned. For now he watches Aoi attack the man. The
boy prepares to give chase if he is somehow able to survive the damage provided by the
attack.

"Well, hey, everyone's got their talents. Maybe that's one you do better than me,"
Youkio fires back with a smirk, taunting back despite the pain he is in. As the fog of
crystals comes his way, he lifts an eyebrow and waits… This really can't be good… With
nowhere to go, he is forced to feel the snow go inside him and then begin to shred his body
from the insane out. Letting out a growl, he pauses a moment before saying, "Oh, yeah, now I
remember… Right after I left your mom's room, some woman asked me to brunch. I think she
said she was from the Land of Ponies and Rainbows." Though he's not in the best position to
be such, Youkio is still quite defiant.

Youkio was literally spitting in her face at this point, causing her to coil her
hands into fists, gazing upon the trash before her. " You made a mistake coming here and
attempting to get away… Mercenary work is one thing about having a hand in an
assassination of a kiri shinobi… one of our strongest? Unforgiveable," Aoitsuki venomously
spoke as she took few steps away from him, she attempted to strike him once with the edge of
her blade yet again, sweltering with wind chakra attempting to drive it into his shoulder
blade. " Tsiro… End him," Aoitsuki demanded… She didn't even want to waste another
breath with this man.

Tsiro was conflicted by the order. Yeah… a Kaguya that has an isuse with killing.
Even to him it seemed a little far fetched. On one side he did not want to let the lead
escape, but on the other this guy was a mercenary. There was little chance they would
actually get anything out of him. Perhaps something on his body would give them a clue. With
his confliction decided, bones from Tsiro's hand turn into a drill and the boy moves forward
to impale Youkio with it.

At the order to 'end him', Youkio's eyes narrow slightly. He'd like to fight back, but, at
this point, he's too exhausted to put up much of a fight. The most is he can do is attempt
to roll out of the way of the incoming strikes with that vine of bone still around him, but
that does him no good at all. The strike from Aoitsuki lands flush on his shoulder, digging
in and sending him right into Tsiro. A growl of pain escapes his lips as the bone drill
drives into his torso, ripping through flesh, bones, and organs and finally wounding him far
past the point of help.
Falling over on his back with blood spewing out from his wounds, the werewolf
begins to revert to his normal state. "Guess that's that then…" He reaches up to his chest
and places his hand on a ring that is held on a necklace, smiling slightly as he looks up to
the sky. Bringing it up, he kisses the ring then lets his arm fall limp as his body starts
to get weaker and weaker.
"… Goodbye, Mika…" With that, the light leaves his eyes, and he goes completely
limp. The mercenary is gone and without giving up any information on his employer in the
coordination of the assassination. He has died with his dignity… not that there isn't
anything on his body that might give these two a clue about who that employer was.

IT was finally over, not that Aoitsuki wasn't entirely anticipating it. Things
seemed to drag on longer than she had thought they would, prompting her to wonder just how
strong were the people responsible for killing Maikeru. " This is a mess…" Aoi hushed
quietly under her breath while drawing her blade back, shaking the blood from her blade as
she returned it to it's proper place. " He was very defiant… Perhaps we can find something
on his body? Or investigate his body to find out where he has been…" And of course by "we"
she met Tsiro. After all he was the one that had the ability to do so. With no other chakra
signatures gaining her attention her transformation began to fade, hair bleeding back into
gold while the winds around them subsided.

Tsiro turned to face Aoi for a moment. "You need to calm your emotions. I know of a
place where we could have taken him. He would never have been found. Not until we wanted him
to be." Tsiro then turns to the corpse, now having reverted to the normal man. He checks the
pockets. In one containing some coins, he finds a symbol of a village. He hands it over
towards Aoi. "You recognize this symbol?" he asks before glancing over the body once more.
"We should find a way to get rid of the body."

Upon Tsiro's comments she merely shrugged her shoulders," Interesting hearing such
words from a Kaguya, I shall take note of that," Aoitsuki answered back, arms slightly
crossing along one another as Tsiro had began his check. " We can bring the body back with
us, he is a criminal after all… We can then get more information about his origins… That
symbol… is from Getsugagakure. I find it interesting that he would hail from there of all
places, perhaps they are an enemy now? We can report this information to Mizukage-sama. For
now our part of this mission is over…."